Topic

aesthetics

A collection of 110 issues

On design, disability, and the Rocky Mountains.

One of my favorite design books is Design Meets Disability by Graham Pullin. It’s a book that explores the positive impact design can have on disability. For example, consider what design has done for eyeglasses, explained in a glowing review by Donald Norman: A powerful, important book. Eyeglasses made

On Laser GaGa and beautiful mathematics.

I often credit my aesthetic sensibilities to growing up in the beautiful Rockies, but maybe they’re due instead to the Spirograph. As a kid in the 70s, I loved this toy. Really, really loved it. I can’t even begin to count the number of snowy nights spent making

On a designer embracing the fine arts.

I hate it when people call me an artist instead of a designer. But maybe I shouldn’t. Because art + technology, art + engineering, art + science, art + design are what lead to disruptive innovation. I often view art as perplexing and navel-gazing, wondering in vain what its purpose is. For me,

On good design and skipping hearts.

While I love the beauty of my Apple products as much as you do, it’s encouraging to note – very encouraging – that there are many companies in the world that produce products equally as beautiful in form and function. I’m going to start showcasing my own personal favorites every

On the long, hard, smart way.

My latest Camper acquisition, the Peu Nara. Made of partially recycled materials. You should listen to this Do Things the Long, Hard, Stupid Way Lecture by Frank Chimero. No, really. You should. Then, I want you to go out and buy yourself a pair of Camper shoes for Christmas. Then

Words are sensuous. Words are beautiful.

The historical B&O rail station. Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. I need a sandbox full of consonants and vowels. Full, crisp, contrasty ones. Like the ones found in “Camden Yards”. Camden Yards is one of my favorite things to say. From the first time I ever

On bird love, biophilia, and happiness.

Cardinal, webwallpapers.net. I got a beautiful pair of Bushnell binoculars for Christmas. “Because you’re so visual. So observant.” said Will. “I want to nurture that.” He also noticed that I’ve fallen in love with a little cardinal that’s taken up in our backyard and my insistence

In winter.

Looking south across the Cook Inlet near Anchorage, Alaska, a plane approaches the Ted Stevens International Airport. Photo by Callie Neylan, January 11, 2012. Snow scattered softly around my ears and eyelashes while I waited for him to open the door. It was metal. Slate blue. Cold like the Alaska

On loving nature.

Map of Alaska via the University of Washington libraries. I can’t stop thinking about Alaska. One might wonder how people survive in such a remote place. Remote yet breathtakingly raw and beautiful. I wondered this myself, until I read this passage by Ralph Waldo Emerson: To speak truly, few

If you don't understand it, don't design it.

Wayfinding signage at the Dublin Airport. Photo by Callie Neylan, January 2012. After my first day in Ireland, I’ve decided that the Irish government appreciates good typography. Maybe it’s because they’re part of the EU? It seems that all European typography is simply better somehow…. Inspired by